Synthesis of hollow fluorescent polymeric microspheres with movable magnetic cores

Low-dispersity hollow poly[(ethyleneglycol dimethacrylate)-co-(N-vinylcarbazole)] (P(EGDMA-co-NVCz)) fluorescent microspheres with movable magnetic cores were prepared by quantitative removal of the silica component in hydrofluoric acid aqueous solution from the corresponding magnetite/silica/P(EGDMA-co-NVCz) tri-layer hybrid microspheres. The tri-layer microspheres with magnetic cores and fluorescent polymer shells were synthesized by distillation precipitation copolymerization of ethyleneglycol dimethacrylate crosslinker and N-vinylcarbazole fluorescent monomer in acetonitrile in the presence of 3-(methacryloxy)propyltrimethoxysilane-modified magnetite/silica particles as seeds, which were afforded by a modified Stober sol-gel process, to coat the magnetite cores. The corresponding hollow fluorescent polymer microspheres with movable magnetic cores were studied using transmission electron microscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, vibrating sample magnetometry, UV-visible spectroscopy and fluorescence spectroscopy. (C) 2010 Society of Chemical Industry